Here is a good recipe for a delicious white bread with a great crust.
Takes a little extra time, but it is worth it. I believe the recipe came
from the Washington Post Food Section.
Keep up the great work and interesting journal. I look forward to it
each week.
Hard-Crusted White Bread
2 lbs (approx. 6-2/3 cups) white bread flour
3 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast
about 2 cups water
1/4 tsp sugar
Add 1/4 tsp sugar to 1/2 cup warm water and stir in the yeast.
Measure the flour into a mixing bowl . Dissolve the salt in the
remaining water, then add the water to the flour, and add the
yeast. Add water if necessary to make dough, then mix well and knead
for about 10 minutes
Turn the dough into a heavy crockery bowl but DO NOT oil the dough or
bowl; it isn't necessary.
Raise the dough fairly cool, 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit for the first
four hours. Deflate by going around the bowl gently pushing the dough
in using a moistened spatula. Remove the dough and turn it over for
the second rising.
Punch down and knead another 7 minutes. Let dough rise but this time
at 75 to 80 degrees t for about two hours. Deflate the dough again,
and cut it in half. Shape each half into a ball being careful not to
tear the gluten 'skin' on the dough. Bakes much better on tile or in
flowerpot bottom (works just fine). Let rise about 45-55 minutes at
about 90 degrees. Looks like it doesn't rise, but it will in the
oven. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Put the proofed loaves into the oven and turn it down to 450
degrees. Twenty minutes later turn down again to 400. Bake about
another hour at 400 degrees. Turn part way through if your oven heats
unevenly . The crust is supposed to be very dark -- it is burned a
little on the outside but will extend nearly half an inch into the
bread. The crumb should be stretchy and airy with large holes similar
to a sourdough.
NOTE: Constructed a raising oven out of a cardboard box, dimmer switch
and lightbulb socket. I heat with a 40-watt bulb and read the
temperature in the box by sticking my instant- read cook's thermometer
through a small hole for the purpose; I just leave the thermometer in
the box for the duration. While this may seem a little overzealous, it
is not hard to construct and pays immense dividends in
repeatability. For humidity control I rely on a doubled dish towel
moistened and covering the dough bowl.